My 10-month old male kitten is straining to poo but not having success. His belly is bloated quite a bit. Help!

My 10-month old male kitten is straining quite hard when attempting to poo in the litter box, and his poo has become all but non-existent. His appetite comes and goes, but he doesn't eat very much. His tummy is swollen/bulging, but it actually seems like he's lost weight everywhere else. We have eliminated his dry food and started giving him only canned food; we're supplementing that with a bit of whole milk throughout the day. Tonight we added some olive oil to his canned food to help ease passage, since his poo (IF he poos) looks like hard little tootsie rolls. We're starting to get quite concerned, especially since he's producing less urine and is not his usual perky self. He does not protest if we touch, rub, scratch, or palpate his tummy. He's just kind of become a lump, which is odd. He's normally personable, feisty, and quite a talker. Some of the perkiness is returning, but not to the level it was. We're taking him to the vet Friday (2 days hence)if there is no improvement.

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It sounds like he certainly needs an enema from the vet. The poor little guy is suffering. You should have taken him to the vet before now. Why are you waiting until Friday? Why are you continuing to let him suffer?

I agree with Twinkle. He needs to be taken to the vet NOW, to an emergency clinic if an appointment is unavailable. If he has a blockage, which sounds possible, me may not survive two days. His change in behavior and personality indicate that he feels unwell or is in pain. It is cruel and irresponsible to continue to allow him to suffer. Get him in to a vet IMMEDIATELY.

Member 1046384
answered on 3/8/12.
Helpful? /1

I agree with the others. This is an emergency situation, and if it were your child or yourself,you would have visited the physician long before now. A situation this serious seldom resolves itself. Giving the kitten milk will make the situation worse as dairy products can cause digestive upsets in healthy cats. Everything is shutting down on your kitten. Please take him to the vets today!

This is an emergency situation! He may have a urinary track infection if he's not producing much urine, which is VERY dangerous to kitties. They can get extremely ill. Males seems to be more proned to them I think. Please get him in to see a vet ASAP!

Your kitty has been exhibiting a continued decline since you started noticing that he is having trouble defecating - he needs to be seen immediately.

First of all - there is nothing wrong with trying different things with your cat’s diet to remedy occasional constipation or diarrhea - where you went wrong was with the whole milk - cats cannot digest cow’s milk. So if in fact your kitty is blocked - which is a very real possibility - you just compounded the problem.

Secondly - if your kitty is not producing urine at all - you have about 6 hours before he starts going into critical distress.

Stop trying to solve this on your own at home - get your kitty to the vet as soon as possible and find out the underlying cause for the constipation – he is really too young to be dealing with chronic constipation unless it is a side effect from a medication that he is on or he is not eating a balanced diet.